Basketball shooting aid

ABSTRACT

A basketball shooting aid. The basketball shooting aid can include a forearm brace for enclosing a portion of a user&#39;s forearm, a hand brace for enclosing a portion of a user&#39;s hand; a pair of hinged connectors, each hinged connector further having a first end coupled to the forearm brace, a second end coupled to the hand brace, and a hinge disposed between the first end and the second end.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationNo. 61/405,508, filed Oct. 22, 2010 and entitled STR8SHOOTER & STRAIGHTSHOOTER, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated byreference.

BACKGROUND

When shooting a basketball, it is important to maintain the hand of theshooting arm aligned with the forearm of the shooting arm. This canincrease the likelihood that the basketball flies along a straighttrajectory towards the target. If the hand is not aligned with theforearm, it is likely that the trajectory of the ball will deviate tothe right or the left, missing the intended target.

SUMMARY

According to at least one exemplary embodiment, a basketball shootingaid may be disclosed. The basketball shooting aid can include a forearmbrace for enclosing a portion of a user's forearm, a hand brace forenclosing a portion of a user's hand; a pair of hinged connectors, eachhinged connector further having a first end coupled to the forearmbrace, a second end coupled to the hand brace, and a hinge disposedbetween the first end and the second end.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Advantages of embodiments of the present invention will be apparent fromthe following detailed description of the exemplary embodiments. Thefollowing detailed description should be considered in conjunction withthe accompanying figures in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of an exemplary embodiment of a basketballshooting aid.

FIG. 2 is a top view of an exemplary embodiment of a basketball shootingaid.

FIG. 3 is a side view of an exemplary embodiment of a basketballshooting aid in use.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Aspects of the invention are disclosed in the following description andrelated drawings directed to specific embodiments of the invention.Alternate embodiments may be devised without departing from the spiritor the scope of the invention. Additionally, well-known elements ofexemplary embodiments of the invention will not be described in detailor will be omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of theinvention. Further, to facilitate an understanding of the descriptiondiscussion of several terms used herein follows.

As used herein, the word “exemplary” means “serving as an example,instance or illustration.” The embodiments described herein are notlimiting, but rather are exemplary only. It should be understood thatthe described embodiment are not necessarily to be construed aspreferred or advantageous over other embodiments. Moreover, the terms“embodiments of the invention”, “embodiments” or “invention” do notrequire that all embodiments of the invention include the discussedfeature, advantage or mode of operation.

According to at least one exemplary embodiment, a basketball shootingaid 100 may be disclosed. Basketball shooting aid 100 may include aforearm brace 102 hingedly coupled to a hand brace 110. Braces 102, 110can be formed from any suitable material, for example neoprene. Forearmbrace 102 may be sized and shaped to snugly enclose a portion of auser's forearm, substantially proximate the wrist of the user. To thatend, forearm brace 102 may have a generally tubular shape and mayinclude closure straps 104 for tightening the forearm brace around theuser's wrist. Closure straps 104 can further facilitate adjusting thediameter of forearm brace 102 such that forearm brace 102 may be usedwith diverse forearm sizes. Closure straps 104 may include hook-and-loopfasteners, or any other fastener known in the art that enablesbasketball shooting aid 100 to function as described herein.

Hand brace 110 may be sized and shaped to snugly enclose a portion ofthe user's hand. In some exemplary embodiments, hand brace 110 mayencircle the users hand approximately between the wrist and below theknuckles. Hand brace 110 may further enclose the thumb of the user andcan include a thumb opening 112 for receiving the thumb, while theremaining fingers can be received through a finger opening 114. However,in some exemplary embodiments, separate finger openings may be providedfor each finger of the user's hand. Hand brace 110 may further includeclosures 116 for tightening the hand brace around the user's hand.Closures 116 can further facilitate adjusting the diameter of hand brace110 such that hand brace 110 may be used with diverse hand sizes.Closures 116 may include hook-and-loop fasteners, or any other fastenerknown in the art that enables basketball shooting aid 100 to function asdescribed herein.

A pair of hinged connectors 120 can be coupled to both forearm brace 102and hand brace 110, so as to allow hand brace 110 to pivot in relationto forearm brace 102. Each hinged connector 120 can have a first end 122coupled to forearm brace 102, a second end 124 coupled to hand brace110, and a hinge 126 disposed between the first end and the second end.Hinge 126 may be any type of hinge known in the art that allows handbrace 110 to pivot in relation to forearm brace 102 about an axis ofrotation 132. Axis of rotation 132 may be oriented substantiallyperpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the user's forearm. Hinge126 may be located such that, when basketball shooting aid 100 is wornby the user, hinge 126 is disposed proximate the wrist of the user.

Hinged connectors 120 may be formed from a rigid material, for examplemetal, plastic, or the like. Hinged connectors 120 can thereforefunction to restrict lateral movement of the hand of the user inrelation to the forearm of the user. This can aid the user inmaintaining the longitudinal axis of the hand substantially coplanarwith the longitudinal axis of the arm while executing the motion ofshooting a basketball.

Coupling between each hinged connector and braces 102, 110 can befacilitated by fasteners 130, which may be, for example, screws or boltscoupled to each of braces 102, 110. Fasteners 130 can be received withinapertures defined in braces 102, 110, and may threadably couple to theapertures. Fasteners 130 can be received within elongated slits 128defined in the hinged connectors 120. Elongated slits 128 can providefor slidably adjusting hinged connectors 120 relative to either or bothof forearm brace 102 and hand brace 110. This can allow basketballshooting aid 100 to be adapted for users having diverse arm lengthswhile keeping hinge 126 disposed proximate the wrist of the user.

In operation, the user can don basketball shooting aid 100 by placingforearm brace 102 around the forearm and proximate to the wrist, andthen tightening closures 104 so that forearm brace 102 snugly encloses aportion of the forearm. The user can then place hand brace 110 around aportion of the hand while the thumb and fingers through thecorresponding openings 112, 114. The user can then tighten closures 116so that hand brace 110 snugly encloses a portion of the hand.

If necessary, the user can adjust the length of basketball shooting aid100 to an appropriate length relative to the user's arm. To that end,the user can loosen fasteners 130 so as to slidably adjust hingedconnectors 120 relative to forearm brace 102 and hand brace 110. Whenthe desired length is obtained, the user can tighten fasteners 130.

As the user executes the basketball shooting motion while wearingbasketball shooting aid 100, the basketball shooting aid can reduce thelikelihood of ulnar and radial deviation of the user's wrist.Consequently, the user's wrist does not move to the outside or inside ofthe longitudinal axis of the user's forearm, facilitating a straightshot.

The foregoing description and accompanying figures illustrate theprinciples, preferred embodiments and modes of operation of theinvention. However, the invention should not be construed as beinglimited to the particular embodiments discussed above. Additionalvariations of the embodiments discussed above will be appreciated bythose skilled in the art.

Therefore, the above-described embodiments should be regarded asillustrative rather than restrictive. Accordingly, it should beappreciated that variations to those embodiments can be made by thoseskilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention asdefined by the following claims.

1. A basketball shooting aid, comprising: a forearm brace for enclosinga portion of a user's forearm; a hand brace for enclosing a portion of auser's hand; a pair of hinged connectors, each hinged connector furtherhaving a first end coupled to the forearm brace, a second end coupled tothe hand brace, and a hinge disposed between the first end and thesecond end.
 2. The basketball shooting aid of claim 1, wherein the hingepivots about an axis of rotation, the axis of rotation beingsubstantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the user'sforearm.
 3. The basketball shooting aid of claim 1, wherein the hingedconnectors are slidably adjustable with respect to the forearm brace. 4.The basketball shooting aid of claim 1, wherein the hinged connectorsare slidably adjustable with respect to the hand brace.
 5. Thebasketball shooting aid of claim 1, wherein the diameter of the forearmbrace is adjustable.
 6. The basketball shooting aid of claim 1, whereinthe diameter of the hand brace is adjustable.
 7. The basketball shootingaid of claim 1, wherein the hand brace includes a thumb opening and asingle finger opening for receiving the user's fingers.
 8. Thebasketball shooting aid of claim 1, wherein the hand brace includes athumb opening and four finger openings for receiving the user's fingers.